Hi, I have made email contact with this seller, http://www.dropzone.com/...ly_8207__139483.htmlShe replied and emailed me some pics of the rig (front, back, side), then we negotiated a price without AAD, all over email. I asked her to send me the serial number so I can check legitimacy and fitting with manufacturer, she says, I quote: "Sorry, I can't send you serial number to avoid misuse of it". She wants me to send her payment through PayPal then upon receiving she will ship rig and she will pay shipping cost. I have tried calling her to the number she gave me and I get a really weird rig tone and no answer. I'm giving her the option to call mi rigger to verify me and she doesn't answer to the option. She has my address, phone number, full name, DZ info, but still she doesn't trust, neither give me serial # to verify the rig and fitting or call my rigger. I really like the rig and the price deal we made but don't want to be scammed. Any suggestions here on anything else to try as I'm about to walk away from this ad. Thank you for your input

Hi, I have made email contact with this seller, http://www.dropzone.com/...ly_8207__139483.htmlShe replied and emailed me some pics of the rig (front, back, side), then we negotiated a price without AAD, all over email. I asked her to send me the serial number so I can check legitimacy and fitting with manufacturer, she says, I quote: "Sorry, I can't send you serial number to avoid misuse of it". She wants me to send her payment through PayPal then upon receiving she will ship rig and she will pay shipping cost. I have tried calling her to the number she gave me and I get a really weird rig tone and no answer. I'm giving her the option to call mi rigger to verify me and she doesn't answer to the option. She has my address, phone number, full name, DZ info, but still she doesn't trust, neither give me serial # to verify the rig and fitting or call my rigger. I really like the rig and the price deal we made but don't want to be scammed. Any suggestions here on anything else to try as I'm about to walk away from this ad. Thank you for your input

Ask her what her home dz is, and a contact number of the dzo / rigger there so you can verify her.

Either way, Chuting Star rigging loft offers a free escrow service for private gear deals. The seller ships them the rig, and you send them the money. They will inspect the rig (you do have to pay for the inspection) and report the findings to the buyer. If the buyer approves, they will ship them the rig, and forward the payment to the seller.

They are a reputable business who has been around for several years and they currently have several business locations. They are the definition of a 'third party' as they have no association with either the seller or buyer.

If she won't provide serial numbers, legitimate contact info, contact your rigger or DZ, or work through Chuting Star, just give up.

I am going to walk away from it. I reported this ad as a scam but haven't seen any action taken to take it down or warn users. The ad was just REPOSTED a couple days ago. Thank you guys for the advice.

This is definitely a scam. A gal from our DZ purchased it last week, sent money via pay pal, never received it, no tracking #, and it is reposted. She is disputing it with pay pal, and the bitch told pay pal the money was a "donation" Why is DZ not getting this ad off the classified list?

The latest scam that scammers are using is they are taking an existing legitimate ad and waiting until it is removed from the site and are reposting it as their own. They have the info that the original poster used as well as photos so they then are able to pretend that they are the seller of an item and will ask for the payment to be paypal personal transfers or donations "to avoid fees" or other reasons and then run with the money and kill the paypal account.

I buy and sell used gear all the time as part of my rigging business. There is no legitimate reason to not include serial numbers unless they are faded and not legible.

I never buy anything unless I run the serial numbers against the stolen gear data base. Besides the one here on DZ.com USPA.org also has one. I found a stolen rig on Ebay last year and it was returned to the owner, the seller (a pawn shop) did not even know it was stolen.

Every time you buy gear whether it is new or used write down the serial numbers and keep that available, it may come in handy. Whuffo theives don't know where to look so they are easy to catch.

I buy and sell used gear all the time as part of my rigging business. There is no legitimate reason to not include serial numbers unless they are faded and not legible.

I never buy anything unless I run the serial numbers against the stolen gear data base. Besides the one here on DZ.com USPA.org also has one. I found a stolen rig on Ebay last year and it was returned to the owner, the seller (a pawn shop) did not even know it was stolen.

Every time you buy gear whether it is new or used write down the serial numbers and keep that available, it may come in handy. Whuffo theives don't know where to look so they are easy to catch.

The interesting thing about this scam (at least the way Phreezone described it) is that these sellers aren't selling stolen gear; they're posting stolen ads, and running a Paypal scam to get money out of the buyers.

While your practice of checking the stolen gear databases is an excellent one, unfortunately, it's unlikely to catch situations like this, since the gear itself isn't stolen.

I played with the poster by email. Offered her 4k which she rapidly accepted, and she sent me her paypal info. I asked her for phone # to call with ?, and she said she was at work and to ask all ? on email. I asked her then what was her home DZ and name of her rigger so I could verify the rig condition, and never heard back. I forwarded my string of email to my friend who got scammed originally so she could forward it all to paypal in support of her claim.

I played with the poster by email. Offered her 4k which she rapidly accepted, and she sent me her paypal info. I asked her for phone # to call with ?, and she said she was at work and to ask all ? on email. I asked her then what was her home DZ and name of her rigger so I could verify the rig condition, and never heard back. I forwarded my string of email to my friend who got scammed originally so she could forward it all to paypal in support of her claim.

This is definitely a scam. A gal from our DZ purchased it last week, sent money via pay pal, never received it, no tracking #, and it is reposted. She is disputing it with pay pal, and the bitch told pay pal the money was a "donation" Why is DZ not getting this ad off the classified list?

Sorry to hear about your friend being scammed. I reported the ad to Meso, the administrator. I hope the victim can resolve this with PayPal and the ad gets removed soon so nobody else gets robbed.

I have responded to the ad, she has emailed me and given me her paypal acct for payment. I am playing along with her. Do you want her email info?

Ed

This is the name and email address the scumbag is using when responding to email inquires: Pamela Boone <pboone742@hotmail.com> This is the fake phone number: (940) 238-0986 This is the PayPal account she is using to get the money: bluecua@rocketmail.com

Don't want to start a new thread when it's kinda on the subject. Anyone do any business with this guy? All his postings seem to be in the Miscellaneous section and it's like he is parting out a bunch of rigs with no specifications. http://www.dropzone.com/..._Reserve_139131.html